Thursday, January 19, 2012

Jackson Fillmore Trattoria is a cozy little neighborhood restaurant in the Fillmore District. I recently went there for dinner with two friends. The restaurant's decor is very simple in keeping with the family/neighborhood motif. We were immediately greeted at the door and sat on time for our reservation. A ton of reviews on Yelp complain about the size of the restaurant and the wait for a table. To those people who don't appreciate the cozy friendly neighborhood vibe of this place, you should hit the local Olive Garden. When a restaurant claims they are "cozy", it means they are small, so plan accordingly.

I ordered the Linguini Fra Diavolo which claims to be "a total Jackson Fillmore classic", but sadly I wasn't very impressed. The sauce was nice, but lacked the spice that I usually find in a Fra Diavolo sauce. I was expecting my mouth to be on fire with the devil, but sadly it wasn't. My friends ordered the Zuppetta Di Pesce and the Polla Alla Noci. The Zuppetta Di Pesce was a hit and my friend was very happy with her cioppino-like dish. The Pollo Alla Noci literally disappeared into my friends stomach in 2 minutes. (I think he liked it.) The dish was a boneless chicken breast covered with mushrooms, walnuts, pine nuts, sherry wine and a touch of cream. It looked delicious. If I wan't allergic to nuts, I would have asked for a taste. The waiter was super friendly in that he noticed my friend inhailed his dish and we were still eating, so he offered to bring him some bread to slop up the sauce.

I liked Jackson Fillmore Trattoria; however, I don't know if it tops my list of neighborhood pasta joints. The service is friendly and the price is right. My favorite part of the meal was the complimentary bruschetta for the table. I wasn't as impressed with my meal as my friends were with theirs.

A final positive for the restaurant was that I made a reservation by leaving a message on their voicemail as their OpenTable.com service wasn't working properly. I quickly received a call back which was a nice personal touch by the staff. Too often restaurants don't call you back and assume you will call them again, which is just plain rude.

About Me

I love to travel and write. I've been to 4 continents and counting. I look forward to sharing my past and current adventures and experiences. In addition to starting my Alice's Travel Adventures blog I've also begun another blog, oldbookjournals, following my new venture in creating personalized travel journals so others can capture their experiences in a unique and creative way. I hope you enjoy.